Out of Sync motors.

[loctuantran]

Hello everyone.
I just built my first quad. The build experience was great. But for some reason my motor keep spinning out of sync. It doesn't matter how many times I re calibrate it. My motor spins really slow and not smooth. But in cleanfight it still shows that it spinning at the same speed as other 4. Sometime I switch back and forward between flight modes it spins normal but rarely. The esc gets hotter than others too. So is it bad esc?
If anyone know the how to fix this problem please help me out. I appreciate it.

p/s I am using Emax 2204, Emax Simon 12A, Naze32

UPDATE: I tried Ottor's way. the motor spins fine without prop on. As soon as I put prop on it acts up again

 

[cranialrectosis]

Could be a bad motor or ESC or something interfering with the motor.

Move the motor to another boom/ESC. If the problem follows the motor it is a motor issue. If the problem stays in place, it is an ESC issue. If the problem goes away, it was a solder issue.

Check the motor for screws too long and interfering with the stators or for bits of sand or hair in the motor.

 

[OttoPilot]

I was running an identical ESC/Motor setup and had similar issues, specifically when arming in airmode. I would arm, and three of the four motors would 'idle' and the last one would stutter. I would have to arm/disarm a couple times before it would catch.

After checking the things cranialrectosis has already suggested above, I determined it was being caused by the ESC.

My cheap fix was to raise the minimum PWM signal the FC sends to the ESCs so that it would skip over the slow speed range where it couldn't sync. You'll lose some resolution in your throttle control, but you won't notice with that setup.

I have since upgraded the ESCs on that particular quad and haven't had an issue since.

 

[cranialrectosis]

Good catch Oto. If I recall the emax simon series run a form of blheli that is a problem in airmode.

 

[Montiey]

Maybe there is a specific scenario when the FC will output a pulse length that the ESC doesn't recognize? Like if it is bumped when you arm it, one motor may start up at an odd value. Still, you should be able to calibrate the ESCs all at once to make sure they are speaking in the same window.

 

[loctuantran]

I was running an identical ESC/Motor setup and had similar issues, specifically when arming in airmode. I would arm, and three of the four motors would 'idle' and the last one would stutter. I would have to arm/disarm a couple times before it would catch.

After checking the things cranialrectosis has already suggested above, I determined it was being caused by the ESC.

My cheap fix was to raise the minimum PWM signal the FC sends to the ESCs so that it would skip over the slow speed range where it couldn't sync. You'll lose some resolution in your throttle control, but you won't notice with that setup.

I have since upgraded the ESCs on that particular quad and haven't had an issue since.

Thank you. I will try it as soon as I can. I noticed that too. Low RPM one of the motor (4th one) has problem or when I change RPM too fast.

 

[loctuantran]

Could be a bad motor or ESC or something interfering with the motor.

Move the motor to another boom/ESC. If the problem follows the motor it is a motor issue. If the problem stays in place, it is an ESC issue. If the problem goes away, it was a solder issue.

Check the motor for screws too long and interfering with the stators or for bits of sand or hair in the motor.

I will update after I resolder and try Otto's methods. My first time solder so it wasnt really good. Maybe that too

 

[loctuantran]

I was running an identical ESC/Motor setup and had similar issues, specifically when arming in airmode. I would arm, and three of the four motors would 'idle' and the last one would stutter. I would have to arm/disarm a couple times before it would catch.

After checking the things cranialrectosis has already suggested above, I determined it was being caused by the ESC.

My cheap fix was to raise the minimum PWM signal the FC sends to the ESCs so that it would skip over the slow speed range where it couldn't sync. You'll lose some resolution in your throttle control, but you won't notice with that setup.

I have since upgraded the ESCs on that particular quad and haven't had an issue since.

So I tried your way. The motor spin fine without prop on as soon as I put prop on it acts up again.

 

[cranialrectosis]

Move the motor and motor mounting screws and see if it follows the motor.

Are you using Airmode?

 

[PsyBorg]

Are your min command set to 1000 and max command set to 2000 then min throttle set to the highest minimum speed of the 4 motors?

I had that same thing when I first set mine up. All I had to do was go into the motor tab and raise each motor step by step with the arrow keys to find where each one was starting to spin and not sputter. Using the highest number in setup as your min throttle should stop that. You may have to bump it a few points to account for prop weight though in some cases like big heavy bull nose props.

 

[loctuantran]

No, I don't use airmode. I use Arm and Angle. The weird part is that it spins fine without prop on and spin retarded ( or really) when I put prop on. At this point it is not the software anymore right? It is either motor or esc's problem, isn't it?

 

[cranialrectosis]

Not necessarily. PsyBorg has it right. The transmitter end points are your next evaluation.

 

[loctuantran]

I was desperate and I wanted to do something so I switch esc. It turned out it was a bad esc. I ordered new one and now it fine now. Thank you so much for your help and others.

 

[loctuantran]

And just for the future. I hear people talk about rate mode. But in cleanfight theres no rate mode. Is it not on cleanfight?

 

[cranialrectosis]

When you are not in any mode and the copter is armed, you are in rate or acro mode.